Method and Device for Managing a Conference

ABSTRACT

A method and communication system are disclosed for conducting a conference among conference participants connected by a communication system. This system has at least one conference server and at least one image reproduction unit at each conference environment. The method involves collecting context data concerning at least one of the conference participants at multiple timed intervals; calculating a relationship value from the context data at the timed intervals; determining a relationship status, wherein the relationship status is expressed using one of several categories defined by a threshold value, depending on the calculated relationship value; and displaying the relationship status on at least one image reproduction unit during the conference. The method may be performed at the beginning of the conference and/or when a new participant joins the conference.

FIELD OF INVENTION

The invention concerns a method and a device for managing a conference,in particular a virtual conference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conferences are becoming ever more important in the business world. Thepractice already exists of holding conferences with people who arephysically present in a conference room and people who are not in theconference room but rather, for example, at a job site, working fromhome, or located somewhere else, wherein the people who are notphysically present are included via electronic means of communication.So that all conference participants can be seen appropriately, it ispreferable from a social standpoint if people who know each other bettercan also convey that while communicating. The many social contacts thatare also but not only cultivated through social networks and via digitalcommunication media, together with increasingly busy schedules, meanthat people who are not in the room are not recognized or activities incommon are forgotten. This has also been described as “digitaldementia.” In such cases, a conference participant is treated as anoutsider, which leads to irritation and can impair the conference. Inaddition, “experiences” that have occurred with a specific conferenceparticipant in the past can make it possible, for example, to reach asolution more rapidly if personal preferences, sensitive issues, orareas open to compromise are known. If such experiences are known foreach conference participant, it can increase the productivity of aconference.

Previously it was not possible to learn about personal qualities andcharacteristics unless there was time to do so during the conference, orunless there was a prior conversation about who was there, whereparticipants had previously met, and how well they knew each other.There is often no time for this, and so these possibilities are lost,especially if a participant is not physically present in the conferenceroom. In such situations, something that could be a powerful tool forrapidly establishing an efficient and successful discussion, individualtrust, or understanding often goes unused. A discussion related to thislack could drag on unnecessarily, because the participants didn't fullyunderstand each other at first.

One goal of the present invention is to offer a method and a device formanaging communications in conferences that can at least in partovercome the aforementioned disadvantages of the prior art. A particulargoal of the present invention is to offer a method and a device formanaging communications in conferences that can increase the efficiencyand productivity of conferences.

The invention achieves this goal at least partially by means of thefeatures in the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments anddevelopments of the invention are provided in the dependent claims.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One embodiment of the invention proposes a method for managing aconference, in which, from the perspective of at least one participant,at least one other participant is displayed in a virtual room, whereinthe method includes the following steps, to be taken at the beginning ofthe conference and/or when a new participant joins in and/or wheninitiated by one of the at least one participants:

a) Collect context data concerning each or at least one selected fromamong at least one other participant and/or the new participant atmultiple timed intervals;

b) Calculate a relationship value from the context data at the timedintervals;

c) Determine a relationship status, wherein the relationship status isexpressed using one of several categories defined by a threshold value,depending on the calculated relationship value; and

d) Display the relationship status during communication.

For purposes of this disclosure, a conference is understood to be acommunication event involving multiple, preferably more than twoparticipants, including the exchange of at least audio and video data,wherein the data exchange is accomplished using electronic means ofcommunication, preferably governed by a packet-based protocol such asTCP/IP or the like. For purposes of the invention, a virtual room is asuitable viewing surface on a device used by at least one participant.In other words, this is called a virtual conference or teleconference.For purposes of the invention, context data are understood to be dataabout the participant's relationship with one or more of the otherparticipants, as described in more detail below. For purposes of theinvention, a relationship value is a numerical value used to quantifythe intensity of a relationship. With each communication process thatoccurs between persons, the context data with reference to those personsare changed. Because the context data are reacquired at the time of theconference, the relationship status is continually updated. The currentrelationship status for any or all of the other participants can bedisplayed instantly for the at least one participant, so that known butforgotten relationships or experiences can effectively be recalled. Thisalso makes it possible, without intensive advance preparation, toassociate with each other at rated trust levels and better assess theother participant. Long “warm-up periods” can be shortened oreliminated. The productivity and efficiency of the conference can beincreased. Assignment to defined categories facilitates theparticipants' intuitive comprehension of the relationship status.

Context data can be collected from data sources such as:

-   -   social networks;    -   in-house communication and staff network data banks;    -   connection data banks of communication providers such as e-mail,        telephone, VoIP, and mobile wireless service providers.        It should be understood that this list does not include all        possible sources. Widely different types of data sources, such        as relationship networks, for example, can be evaluated and used        in determining the relationship status.

In addition, the context data can be related to events such as:

-   -   communication events such as telephone conversations, e-mails,        SMS, MMS, etc.;    -   friend statuses, messages, likes, comments, blog entries, etc.;    -   organizational events;    -   professional collaboration;    -   projects;    -   meetings;    -   joint publications or conference presentations;    -   joint travel or events;    -   mutual interests;    -   living or working in proximity;    -   membership in the same associations, societies, political        parties, or other personal organizations,        with the understanding that this list does not include all        possible items. Widely different types of events can be        evaluated and used in determining the relationship status. It is        possible to call up and display context data or metadata and/or        individual event content from the data sources during the        conference.

Context data can be or include a counted number of events assigned tothe other participant from the participant's perspective, whereinpreferably the counted number of events used in calculating therelationship value is weighted according to how long before the time ofthe conference it happened and/or according to the type and/orcircumstances of the event. This makes it possible to rate therelationship by simply adding up the communication events. As an exampleof weighting according to how long ago the event happened, an event thatoccurred longer ago can be weighted lower than a more recent event. Asan example of weighting according to the type of event, a jointlyorganized project or joint publication can be weighted higher than alike on a social network. As an example of weighting according to thecircumstances of the event, the length of telephone conversations,number of characters in selected text messages or text files, datavolumes of selected files, etc. can influence the rating.

The time intervals can include a current time interval that runs up tothe time of the virtual conference, and a prior time interval thatimmediately precedes the current time interval, wherein the length ofthe time intervals is one month, in particular. One month is areasonable length of time for active relationships. For finerclassification, shorter time intervals such as two weeks, one week, orone day are also conceivable. For weaker relationships, a longer timeperiod such as a year or longer can be suitable, so as to be able toinclude old school friends, fellow college students, vacationacquaintances, etc. for example.

The relationship value is calculated preferably using the formula

B(T)=V×Z(T)+(1−V)×B(T−1)

wherein T is a current time interval, T-1 is an elapsed time intervalimmediately before the current time interval t, Z is a counted number ofevents in a given time interval, V is a factor that simulates havingforgotten about events over time and is expressed by a value between 0and 1, preferably 0.4-0.8, and B is the relationship value. Byintroducing a memory factor, a forgetfulness curve is added. The formulaessentially represents a simple digital low-pass filter.

Alternatively, other filtering characteristics can also be used. As anoption, statistical outliers can be smoothed out using median filtering.

In one preferred embodiment, collection of context data and preferablycalculation of a relationship value from the context data are executedseparately for all or for several selected or for one relationshiplevel(s). It is especially preferred to collect context data, calculatea relationship value from the context data and determine a relationshipstatus separately for all or for several selected or for onerelationship level(s). The relationship level(s) can include:

-   -   public relationships;    -   private relationships;    -   work-related relationships;

In other words, context data are acquired for each relationship level, arelationship value is preferably also calculated for each relationshiplevel, and, especially preferably, the relationship status is alsodetermined for each relationship level. This means that theaforementioned method can be applied fully for each separaterelationship level. In addition, it is also possible to add levelstogether for a total score at any point in the process, wherein, forexample, a maximal value for the relationship status of all levels isused as a total score or an overall relationship status is determinedbased on an appropriately weighted sum of the relationship values forall levels, or a total relationship value is calculated based on anappropriately weighted sum of the context data for all levels. Thedisplay of results can include all or one or more preset or one or moreselected relationship levels. In other words, for example, the at leastone participant can choose whether he wishes the display to show oneselected relationship level or a relationship result for all or multipleintegrated relationship levels.

Again, it is understood that the list of relationship levels is notall-inclusive. For example, multiple levels can exist for work-relatedrelationships if a participant includes multiple positions in thecompany. Multiple levels of private or public relationships can also bedefined, such as those related to family, to professional (but notcompany-related) contacts, to a society, or to a political party. It ispossible for each participant's relationship levels to be freely definedand configured.

The relationship status can be displayed in any of the following ways:

-   -   Audio signals;    -   Colors, in particular a background, a border, or fill;    -   Tags;    -   Icons, emoticons;    -   Images, graphics, caricatures;    -   Film clips, music clips, jingles.        But this list is not all-inclusive. The display choice can be        such that the relationship status and the respective calculated        levels “jump right out” at the viewer. Different types and/or        means of display can be used for different relationship levels.

The relationship status preferably includes the categories “strongrelationship,” “medium relationship,” “weak relationship,” and “norelationship.” The threshold values used to delimit the relationshipstatuses are set to be relevant to life experience and can be adjustedby the user as appropriate.

It is understood that the method can be performed in a communicationsystem using a computer program that includes program commands that makea computer carry out the process steps of the described process, if thecomputer program is stored on or called up by the computer, as well as asoftware product that is stored on a computer-readable medium and canpreferably be installed directly into the internal memory of a computerand has program codes for carrying out the process steps of thedescribed method when the computer program is run on the computer, plusa digital storage medium with electrically readable control signals thatcan be processed by a programmable computer in order to managecommunication processes, wherein the control signals are generated andadjusted so as to make the computer carry out the process steps of thedescribed method. Such a computer can be part of a conference system, aconference server, a conference terminal, a participant's individualdevice, etc.

A device for executing the method is provided, wherein the process iscarried out as described above. The problem addressed by the presentinvention is solved by these devices for the same reasons as the onesstated above for the corresponding method. The device can be, forexample, a conference server or a central conference unit or terminal.

Additional features, tasks, advantages and details of the presentinvention will become more apparent from the following description ofconcrete exemplary embodiments and their presentation in drawings in theincluded figures. It is understood that features, tasks, advantages anddetails of individual exemplary embodiments are transferrable to otherexemplary embodiments and are considered to be disclosed also inconnection with the other exemplary embodiments unless this is obviouslyinapplicable for technical or physical reasons. Exemplary embodimentscan be combined with other exemplary embodiments and that combinationcan also be considered an exemplary embodiment of the invention.

Present preferred embodiments of the invention are described below inmore detail based on preferred exemplary embodiments and with referenceto the figures.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a representation of a virtual conference room from aparticipant's perspective;

FIG. 2A is a representation of a selection of participants from thevirtual conference room with additional information;

FIG. 2B is a representation of another selection of participants fromthe virtual conference room with additional information;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram illustrating one communication managementprocess; and

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating process steps with references tohardware and software components from the process shown in FIG. 3.

The figures are schematic presentations and not necessarily according toscale. The illustrations in drawings and the descriptions thereof shallbe considered exemplary illustrations of the principle of the inventionand shall in no way restrict the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present method is intended to be performed by a communication systemused for conducting a conference among conference participants, one setof conference participants being at a first conference environment andat least one other set of conference participants being at anotherconference environment. The conference participants are connected by acommunication system that has at least one conference server and atleast one image reproduction unit at each conference environment onwhich images corresponding to at least some of the conferenceparticipants are displayed. The image reproduction unit may be a standalone display device such as an LED screen, a computer monitor or ascreen on a mobile communication device such as a smart phone. Theconference server contains a processor and a non-transitory memorycontaining a program which causes the communication system to performthe method described here. The communication system may also contain alocal conferencing unit at one or more of the conference environmentswhich has a processor and a non-transitory memory that can perform someor all of the steps of the present method.

FIG. 1 shows a representation of a virtual conference room 100 from theperspective of a participant in a video conference. In other words, theconference room 100 corresponds to an image or partial image (called awindow) on a participant's display screen. The one participant who isnot shown here is also designated in the following as the viewer.

The virtual conference room 100 includes a reference structure 110 thatrepresents a conference table. Around the reference structure 110 is agroup of participants 120 that includes participants 121, 122, 123, 124,and 125. In addition, around the participant group 120 there is a groupof symbols 130 that includes symbols 131, 132, 133, 134, and 135,wherein each of the symbols 131, 132, 133, 134, and 135 is assigned toone of the participants 121, 122, 123, 124, and 125. Precisely stated,symbol 131 is assigned to participant 121, symbol 132 is assigned toparticipant 122, symbol 133 is assigned to participant 123, symbol 134is assigned to participant 124, and symbol 135 is assigned toparticipant 125. The symbols 131, 132, 133, 134, and 135 are so-calledemoticons that symbolize an emotional and/or relationship status foreach of the participants 121, 122, 123, 124, 125. In addition, there isa group of objects 140, which here includes only a single object 141located on the reference structure 110 (conference table). The object141 corresponds to a file or file folder for an object that can beopened on the same or a separate display screen area by the viewer.

FIGS. 2A and 2B each include a representation of a selection ofparticipants from the virtual conference room 100 with additionalinformation. More precisely, FIG. 2A shows a selection area 210 in whoseupper left corner the participant 121 from FIG. 1 is shown inaccentuated form, here highlighted by a border and colored or graybackground. An information block 220 is assigned to the participant 121,visually set off from the selection window 210. In addition, theselection area 210 includes the participants 123 and 125 with theirrespective symbols (emoticons) 133 and 135.

The information block 220 can provide specific personal information, forexample, such as:

-   -   personal notes,    -   personal assessments,    -   curriculum vitae.

The selection area 210 has been generated, for example, by the viewer ofthe conference room 100 from FIG. 1. The selection area 210 allows theparticipant 121 to be accentuated after he/she is, for example, selectedby the viewer or identified by the viewer's line of sight. In otherwords, the viewing participant him/herself can adjust the focus, or thefocus can be recognized and established, for example, by facialidentification using a camera at the conference location. The additionalparticipants 123 and 125 in the selection area 210 can be, for example,participants who were previously selected or identified or wereestablished by a conference server or similar means based on othercriteria.

FIG. 2B further shows a selection area 230 in whose upper left cornerthe participant 123 is shown in accentuated form, here highlighted by aborder and colored or gray background. An information block 235 isassigned to the participant 123, visually set off from the selectionarea 230. In addition, the selection area 230 includes the participant125 with his/her symbol (emoticon) 135. An information block 250 can beseen below the selection area 230.

The information block 240 can provide specific personal information, forexample, such as:

-   -   calling up recent publications,    -   results of the last meeting.

The information block 250 can contain individual relationshipinformation for other conference participants as summary information.The individual relationship information is obtained from historicaldata. The “sentiment detection” resulting from the data analysis canrecognize emotional statements. By combining these emotional statements,a sympathy sequence can be established by comparison with the values forother people with whom a relationship exists. The summarizedrelationship can be rated on a sympathy □ antipathy scale. This is alsopossible on line, where any negative statements/responses and/orpositive statements/responses are evaluated using sentiment detection.The summary information in that case is the summary relationship basedon the emotional values for sympathy and antipathy provided by sentimentdetection.

FIG. 3 shows a communication management process 300. When the process300 is called up, a pre-selected list from among the participants in theconference is transferred to the process 300. The pre-selected list canbe generated by the viewer or by the system.

After the process is started (called up) and after a transfer step notshown here is completed, in step 310 a participant is selected fromamong the participants generated in the process 300.

Next, in step 320 context data are acquired for the participant selectedin step 310. The context data reflect the relationship status with theselected participant on multiple relationship levels. For example, therelationship levels can include:

-   -   Private relationships (p),    -   Public relationships (ö),    -   Work-related relationships (f).

The context data are acquired from data sources 390 such as socialnetworks, a company database, a communications server, or other sources,for example, and can refer to items such as organizational data,communication data (connection data), project data, meeting data, jointpublications, etc. The relationship status generated from the contextdata corresponds in each level to a counted number Z of events that haveoccurred at the respective level.

Next, in step 330, a relationship value B is calculated for eachrelationship level. The relationship value B for each relationship levelis generated from the events that have occurred at the respectiverelationship level over time. A forgetfulness curve, characterized by aforgetfulness constant V, is applied in order to give priority to morerecent events. In other words, first an applicable time interval T isselected, in which the various events that have occurred are counted inorder to generate a counted number Z in each time interval T. Therelationship value B is then calculated using a simple digital low-passfilter. Alternatively, other filter functions can be used or, forexample, statistical outliers can be filtered out with median filtering.As a suitable filter function, the function

B(T)=V×Z(T)+(1−V)×B(T−1)

can be used. Wherein T is a current time interval, T-1 is a previoustime interval immediately before the current time interval T, Z is thecounted number of events in the given time interval, V is theforgetfulness factor that simulates having forgotten about events overtime, and B is the relationship value.

The length of each time interval T, T-1 can be established by default asone month. However, other time intervals can also be used. It is alsopossible to use different time intervals for different relationshiplevels. It is conceivable that one month could be too short of a timeperiod to count for weak relationships, so that possibly quarters,half-years, years, or even longer periods of time may be appropriate.

By selecting the time interval T and the forgetfulness factor V,relationships can be standardized for a particular participant. Forinstance, less communicative people can have strong relationships,although they generally communicate less often than others.

In the concrete example, for the three relationship levels ö, p, and f,the relationship values

B _(ö)(T)=V×Z _(ö)(T)+(1−V)×B _(ö)(T−1) for the public relationshiplevel,

B _(p)(T)=V×Z _(p)(T)+(1−V)×B _(p)(T−1) for the private relationshiplevel, and

B _(f)(T)=V×Z _(f)(T)+(1−V)×B _(f)(T−1) for the company relationshiplevel are calculated.

Next, in step 340, a relationship status is determined from eachrelationship level, using the relationship values calculated in step330. Here categories are used that reflect the strength of arelationship and are characterized by threshold values for eachrelationship value. For example, the categories “strong relationship,”“medium relationship,” “weak relationship,” and “no relationship” areused. If the relationship value B(T) is below a threshold valueB_(weak), the relationship is assigned to the relationship levelcategorized as “no relationship.” If the relationship value B(T) isabove the threshold value B_(weak) but below the threshold valueB_(medium), the relationship is assigned to the relationship levelcategorized as “weak relationship.” If the relationship value B(T) isabove the threshold value B_(medium) but below the threshold valueB_(strong), the relationship is assigned to the relationship levelcategorized as “medium relationship.” If the relationship value B(T) isabove the threshold value B_(strong), the relationship is assigned tothe relationship level categorized as “strong relationship.”

The relationship status for the defined participant is then displayed instep 350.

The subsequent step 360 determines whether all or all selectedparticipants have been evaluated. If so (yes in step 360), the process300 ends. Otherwise (no in step 360), the process jumps back to theaforementioned transfer step that leads back to step 310.

The process 300 can be performed by a central conference unit.Alternatively, the process 300 can also be performed by an individualconference participant's device or system.

Since the relationship value B(T) in each relationship level ö, p, f canbe recalculated based on how long ago each event occurred, including theevent numbers Z per relationship level for the current time interval Tas well as the relationship B for the last time interval T-1, thecurrent relationship value can be recalculated at any time. In so doing,only relationship values that are above the threshold value B_(weak) canbe used for a weak relationship.

Obviously, the invention is not limited to the three levels listed. Forexample, the private level can be separated into a personal and aprofessional level, there can be multiple company-related relationshiplevels for different companies, there can be political orassociation-related levels, etc. Event counting can be weighteddepending on the source. It is therefore conceivable for long-termprojects with comparatively few communication events to be weightedhigher than postings to a social network, SMSs, etc.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram that illustrates process steps related tohardware and software components of a communication system or conferencesystem that executes the process from FIG. 3. It is assumed thatmultiple participants A, . . . , N are participating in a conference.The participants 121, 122, 123, 124, and 125 from FIG. 1 can be theparticipants A, . . . , N from FIG. 4.

In a first process step and/or context data step 410, a context databank is provided for each participant A, . . . , N. The figure shows afirst context data bank 411 for the participant A and an nth contextdata bank 415 for the participant N. When process paths for theparticipants A and N are described below as coming from the context databanks 411 and 415, the statement should be understood as also referringto the other participants and related context data banks, etc. Thecontext data banks 411, . . . , 415 are generated such that context datafor the participants A, . . . , N are collected from data sources 390.For example, data sources 390 can be:

-   -   Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, etc.    -   Public media such as news stories, databases, etc.,    -   Company media such as Intranet, databases, etc.,    -   Internet searches, for example on Google, etc.,    -   and others.

In a second process step and/or sentiment detection step 420, asentiment detection matrix is provided for each participant A, . . . ,N, of which a first sentiment detection matrix 421 for the participant Aand an nth sentiment detection matrix 425 for the participant N areshown. Each of the sentiment detection matrices 421, . . . , 425 isgenerated such that the context data bases 411, . . . , 415 are accessedfor all participants, so that sentiment detection is performed for eachparticipant A, . . . , N with respect to every other participant A, . .. , N.

In a third process step and/or relationship step 430, for eachparticipant A, . . . , N a relationship vector is provided for each(other) participant, of which a first relationship vector 431 for theparticipant A and an nth relationship vector 435 for the participant Nare shown. The relationship vectors 431, . . . , 435 are acquired fromthe respective sentiment detection matrices 421, . . . , 425, whereinthe relationship vector 431 represents the relationships of theparticipant A with all participants A, . . . , N, and an nthrelationship vector 435 represents the relationships of the participantN with all participants A, . . . , N. A participant's relationship withhim/herself can be represented in the respective relationship vector asa “0” or “−1” or another characteristic value, or can be omitted. Therelationship vectors are sent to a back-end conference application 460which will be described later.

There, separately from the previously described sentiment detection,context analysis is performed in a fourth process step and/or contextanalysis step 440. In the illustrated case, context analysis isperformed only for the participant A. Therefore, in the context analysisstep 440, only a single context analysis unit 441 is shown, whichperforms a context analysis for the participant A based on the contextdata stored in the context data bank 411. The context analysis includescounting events for each relationship level ö, p, and f (see above).

For each of the relationship levels ö, p, f (see above), the contextanalysis results in counted event numbers Z(T) in the preset timeinterval T, i.e., a counted event number Z_(ö,A) (T) for the publicrelationship level of the participant A, a counted event numberZ_(p,A)(T) for the private relationship level of the participant A, anda counted event number Z_(f,A)(T) for the company relationship level ofthe participant A.

The counted event numbers Z(T) are delivered to a fifth process stepand/or filtering step 450. The filtering step 450 includes a filter unit451 for the participant A. The filter unit 451 applies a filteringfunction in order to calculate and categorize, based on the countedevent numbers for each of the relationship levels ö, p, f, arelationship value B(T) in the preset time interval T, i.e., arelationship value B_(ö,A)(T) for the public relationship level of theparticipant A, a relationship value B_(p,A)(T) for the privaterelationship level of the participant A, and a relationship valueB_(f,A)(T) for the company relationship level of the participant A (no,weak, medium, or strong relationship, see above), so that thiscalculation can also be sent to the related conference application 460.

In the following conference application 460, all relationship vectors431, . . . , 435 as well as all relationship values B_(ö/p/f,A)(T) areprocessed so that the participants' representations can be displayed ona screen or similar device in a final process step or display step 470.In the display step 470, displays are generated for each participant A,. . . , N, of which a first display 471 for the participant A and an nthdisplay 475 for the participant N are shown. The displays for theparticipants correspond, for example, to the displays shown in FIGS. 1,2A, and 2B.

It should be noted that using the processes in the upper process branch,consisting of process steps 420 and 430, determines the emotionalqualities of the relationships between participants, while using theprocesses in the lower process branch, consisting of process steps 450and 460, determines the intensity of the relationships betweenparticipants. Therefore, in the display step 470 a two-dimensionaldifferentiation of the relationship with respect to relationship qualityand relationship intensity is achieved using the emoticons 131-135 inthe symbol group.

The description above is from the perspective of one viewer of thevirtual conference room 100 in FIG. 1. If the virtual conference room100 is available to multiple conference participants, it is possible(under potentially sensitive circumstances) for the relationshipstatuses of certain participants to be available only to certainparticipants on their individual devices, such as the selection windows210, 230 of FIGS. 2A, 2B, while other participants' access to thoserelationship statuses is blocked.

In summary, the present method is based on the assumption that, in thisera of extremely full schedules, there is usually no time to prepareadequately in advance for a conference. In particular, for conferenceswith participants in other locations, participants are not alwaysrecognized, so that prior social relationships cannot be optimally used.In order to help fill the memory gaps, it is advantageous to expand thecentral conference unit. According to the invention, the conference unitacquires relationship data from social networks, in-house organizationaldata, communication, project, and meeting data, etc. There can beessentially three relationship levels (private, company, public), eachof which can be divided into four categories (strong, medium, weak,none). Per level, an overall relationship is determined as a countedvalue within a defined period of time (month, year). From that, a filterfunction is used to calculate the relationship value, which falls intoone of four categories. The filter function defines a forgetfulnesscurve using a forgetfulness constant. By selecting the time period andthe forgetfulness constant, a relationship can be adapted to thecharacteristics of a person. Grouping into a category is done bycomparison with a threshold value. Depending upon the capabilities ofthe device, the result can be linked to the person and displayed in theform of audio signals, icons, colors, emoticons, etc. The invention cancalculate and display the status of a (personal) relationship withreference to an “aging process,” among other things. This relationshipstatus can also be used to manage additional functions (prioritizinginformation, interrupting a conference, forwarding to a distributor).

The features of the invention described with reference to theillustrated embodiments, for example the information block 220 in FIG.2A that contains specific personal information such as personal notes,personal assessments, and/or curriculum vitae, can also exist in otherembodiments of the invention, for example additionally or alternativelyin the information block 240 with call-ups of recent publications and/orthe results of the last conversation in FIG. 2B, except when statedotherwise or when impossible for technical reasons.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS AND SYMBOLS

100 virtual conference room

110 Reference structure (conference table)

120 Group of participants

121-125 Participants in a conference

130 Group of symbols

131-135 Symbols for the participants 121-125

140 Group of objects

141 Object

210 Selection area (selection window)

220 Information block

230 Selection area

240 Information block

250 Information block

300 Process

310-360 Process steps

390 Data sources

410 Process step (context data step)

411, 415 Context data banks

420 Process step (sentiment detection step)

421, 425 Sentiment detection matrix

430 Process step (relationship value step)

431, 435 Relationship vectors

440 Process step (context analysis step)

441 Context analysis unit

450 Process step (filtering step)

451 Filter unit

460 Back-end conference application

470 Process step (display step)

471, 475 Display

f Company level

ö Public level

p Private level

B Relationship value

T Time interval (current)

T-1 Time interval (previous)

V Forgetfulness vector

Z Event number

The list above is an integral component of the description.

1-18. (canceled)
 19. A method for conducting a conference amongconference participants via a communication system, one set ofconference participants being at a first conference environment, atleast one other set of conference participants being at anotherconference environment, the conference participants beingcommunicatively connected by the communication system, the communicationsystem comprising at least one conference server having a processor anda non-transitory computer readable medium and at least one imagereproduction unit at each conference environment on which imagescorresponding to at least some of the conference participants aredisplayed, wherein the method comprises: a) the communication systemcollecting context data concerning at least one of the conferenceparticipants at multiple timed intervals from multiple sources of thecontext data, the multiple sources comprising social network sources andpublic media sources accessible via at least one network connection thecommunication system has with these sources; b) the communication systemcalculating relationship values from the collected context data at thetimed intervals for different relationship levels; c) the communicationsystem determining at least one relationship status based on thecalculated relationship values for the different relationship levels,wherein the relationship status is expressed using one of severalcategories that are each defined by a threshold value, depending on thecalculated relationship value; and d) displaying the at least onerelationship status on at least one image reproduction unit during theconference.
 20. The method as in claim 19 wherein the context data arecollected from data sources selected from the group consisting of socialnetworks, in-house communications, staff network data banks, andconnection data banks of communication providers.
 21. The method as inclaim 20 wherein the communication providers are e-mail serviceproviders, telephone service providers, VoIP service providers or mobilewireless service providers.
 22. The method as in claim 19 wherein thecontext data represent events selected from the group consisting ofcommunication events, friend statuses, messages, likes, comments, blogentries, organizational events, professional collaboration, projects,meetings, joint publications, conference presentations, joint travel,joint events, mutual interests, living in proximity, working inproximity, membership in an association, membership in a society,political party affiliation, membership in a civic organization, andmembership in a cultural organization.
 23. The method as in claim 22wherein the communication events are telephone conversations, e-mails,SMS messages or MMS messages.
 24. The method as in claim 19 wherein thecontext data includes a counted number of events assigned to a selectedparticipant and wherein the counted number of events used in calculatingthe relationship value is weighted according to at least one of how longbefore the conference the events happened, type of event andcircumstances of the event.
 25. The method as in claim 19 wherein thetime intervals include a current time interval that runs up to a time ofthe conference, and a prior time interval that immediately precedes thecurrent time interval, wherein each of the time intervals is one month.26. The method as in claim 19 wherein each relationship value iscalculated according to the formulaB(T)=V×Z(T)+(1−V)×B(T−1) wherein T is a current time interval, T-1 is aprior time interval that immediately precedes the current time interval,Z is a counted number of events in a respective time interval, V is afactor that simulates having forgotten about events over time and isexpressed by a value between 0 and 1, and B is the relationship value.27. The method of claim 26 wherein V has a value of 0.4 to 0.8.
 28. Themethod of claim 19 wherein there is only one relationship status that isdetermined based on all the relationship levels.
 29. The method of claim19 wherein the relationship levels comprise: public relationships,private relationships and professional relationships.
 30. The method ofclaim 19 wherein the relationship status is displayed by one of audiosignals, background color, a border, tags, icons, emoticons, images,graphics, caricatures, film clips, music clips and jingles.
 31. Themethod as in claim 30 wherein the relationship status is selected fromthe group of categories consisting of strong relationship, mediumrelationship, weak relationship, and no relationship.
 32. The method ofclaim 19 wherein steps a) through c) are performed at the beginning ofthe conference.
 33. The method of claim 19 wherein steps a) through c)are performed when a new participant joins the conference.
 34. Acommunication apparatus connecting a plurality of conferenceenvironments comprised of at least one conference server and at leastone image reproduction unit at each conference environment on whichimages corresponding to at least some conference participants aredisplayed, the at least one conference server containing a processor anda non-transitory computer readable medium containing a program whichcauses the communication apparatus to: a) collect context dataconcerning at least one of the conference participants at multiple timedintervals from multiple sources of the context data, the multiplesources comprising social network sources and public media sourcesaccessible via at least one network connection the communication systemhas with these sources; b) calculate relationship values from thecollected context data at the timed intervals for different relationshiplevels; c) determine at least one relationship status based on thecalculated relationship values for the different relationship levels,wherein the at least one relationship status is expressed using at leastone of several categories that are each defined by a threshold value,depending on the calculated relationship value; and d) display the atleast one relationship status on at least one image reproduction unitduring the conference.
 35. The communication apparatus of claim 34 alsocomprising a local conferencing unit connected to the at least oneconference server and which is assigned to the respective conferenceenvironment; and wherein each relationship value is calculated accordingto the formula:B(T)=V×Z(T)+(1−V)×B(T−1); where T is a current time interval, T-1 is aprior time interval that immediately precedes the current time interval,Z is a counted number of events in a respective time interval, V is afactor that simulates having forgotten about events over time and isexpressed by a value between 0 and 1, and B is the relationship value.36. A non-transitory computer readable medium having a program defininga method that is executable by a processor of a conference server in acommunication system for conducting a conference among sets ofconference participants, one set of conference participants being at afirst conference environment, at least one other set of conferenceparticipants being at another conference environment, the conferenceparticipants being connected by the communication system, thecommunication system comprised of the conference server and at least oneimage reproduction unit at each conference environment on which imagescorresponding to at least some of the conference participants aredisplayed, wherein the method comprises: a) collecting context dataconcerning at least one of the conference participants at multiple timedintervals from multiple sources of the context data, the multiplesources comprising social network sources and public media sourcesaccessible via at least one network connection the communication systemhas with these sources; b) calculating relationship values from thecollected context data at the timed intervals for different relationshiplevels; c) determining at least one relationship status, wherein the atleast one relationship status based on the calculated relationshipvalues for the different relationship levels, each relationship statusbeing expressed using one of several categories that are each defined bya threshold value, depending on the calculated relationship value; andd) displaying the at least one relationship status on at least one imagereproduction unit during the conference.
 37. The non-transitory computerreadable medium of claim 36, wherein each relationship value iscalculated according to the formula:B(T)=V×Z(T)+(1−V)×B(T−1); wherein T is a current time interval, T-1 is aprior time interval that immediately precedes the current time interval,Z is a counted number of events in a respective time interval, V is afactor that simulates having forgotten about events over time and isexpressed by a value between 0 and 1, and B is the relationship value.38. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 37 wherein Vhas a value of 0.4 to 0.8.